


The Fifth Kind

by Brumeier



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alien Abduction, Community: ushobwri, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2017-10-02
Packaged: 2019-01-08 04:11:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12246729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: Steve and Danny are headed home late after wrapping up a case when they make first contact with an alien race...and receive an unexpected request.





	The Fifth Kind

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Monster Fest: Aliens at [You Should Be Writing](https://ushobwri.dreamwidth.org/171390.html)

It was well past one in the morning by the time Steve and Danny headed home. They’d wrapped up the Delaney case late, and Steve had cut Kono and Chin loose so they all didn’t have to burn the midnight oil. Steve was so tired his eyes were burning. He couldn’t wait to get home and crawl into bed.

“I could sleep for a year,” Danny said, echoing Steve’s thoughts. His head was tipped against the passenger side window. “Why can’t these guys keep banker’s hours?”

“Maybe the mayor can work that into his next campaign.”

“Mmm hmm.”

Steve darted a glance over at Danny, grinning when he saw his partner looked like he was already mostly asleep. He loved putting a sleepy Danny to bed, peeling him out of his clothes while he was warm and pliant and softly grumbling. It meant Danny would be very cuddly and, while he’d never admit it to anyone, Steve really enjoyed the cuddling.

“You know, we should –”

The car sputtered to a stop in the middle of the road, the entire electrical system shutting down.

“The hell?”

Steve turned the key but didn’t even get a click. He knew there was nothing wrong with the Camaro because he had it serviced regularly; Danny’s kids were often in the car and their safety was paramount.

“We home already?” Danny asked blearily.

“No. Car’s dead.”

Steve tried the key again, but already his mind had switched gears. He knew the car had been in perfect working order, which meant it had to have been tampered with. 

“Any idea who?” Danny went from sleepy to alert in an admirably swift amount of time, and the part of Steve that wasn’t scanning the dark road ahead and behind for signs of trouble was pleased they were on the same wavelength.

“Probably a long list.” They were sitting ducks in the car, so the first order of business was to get to better cover. “We need to get to the treeline. Be fast, stay low.”

“Right.”

Danny had his gun out, and Steve pulled his too, but as soon as Danny opened his door a blinding white light flooded the car.

“Down!” Steve shouted, simultaneously pushing Danny down and hopefully out of the line of sight through the windows. 

It was the last conscious memory he had.

*o*o*o*

“Steve. Come on, babe. Talk to me. I can hear you breathing.”

Steve groaned. His head was pounding and his ears were ringing. How much had they had to drink? He couldn’t remember.

“That’s it. Come on. We have a 911 situation here and I could use some backup.”

The terse tone snapped Steve out of his haze and he opened his eyes, wincing as a bright light assailed him. The pain in his head ramped up and for one tense moment he was sure he was going to puke.

“You with me, McGarrett?”

“Mostly. Where are we?” Steve couldn’t see anything, just white light. He tried to move his head but it was stuck solidly in place. In fact, he couldn't move his body at all, not even to wiggle his fingers. "What the fuck?"

"You can't move either? Damn. So much for plan A."

Steve couldn't feel any restraints, which meant the body paralysis was probably chemical in origin. He swallowed his panic at being rendered so completely helpless and tried to pinpoint where Danny was in relation to his position, which was nearly impossible because he had no reference points. Steve didn't know if he was sitting up or lying down – he could see his knees, but that wasn’t indicative of anything – and he couldn’t feel anything solid around him. It was as disorienting as getting rolled by a big wave.

"I don't want to alarm you or anything, but this is starting to give me that old claustrophobic feeling," Danny said, and now Steve could hear the tremor in his voice; he was barely holding it together. "So if you could work up some Super SEAL action, now would be a really good time."

"Deep breaths, Danny. Come on. Hold it together, okay?"

"You hold it together!" Danny snapped, but then Steve could hear him blowing out some breaths. 

Steve clenched the muscles in his arms, but that was the only voluntary movement he could get out of them. Peripheral vision gave him nothing. They were so screwed.

“This is some next level shit, Steve. I don’t think we –”

The light abruptly dimmed to a more normal level and an oblong panel opened up in front of Steve. A door. It didn’t add any more definition to the room itself, which continued to be a featureless expanse of light, but Steve felt like he was sitting up and it was a relief to be able to have even that much sense of self.

Unfortunately, a door also meant they were no longer alone. Two…Steve didn’t know what they were. Vaguely human-shaped shadows? There was a suggestion of arms and legs, grossly exaggerated in length, but Steve got the uneasy sense they were two-dimensional. No facial features, no hint of musculature.

“Jesus fuck,” Danny swore. “What the fuck am I looking at right now?”

_Do not be alarmed._

The shadow creatures spoke, but not with actual words. It was more like a vibration inside Steve’s head.

“Who are you?”

_We have come on a peaceful mission._

“The hell you have,” Danny shot back. “This is kidnapping, of two highly valued members of local law enforcement. There’s nothing peaceful about that.”

As long as Danny had someone to yell at, Steve wouldn’t have to worry about the claustrophobia overwhelming him.

_The restraints are for our safety. We mean you no harm._ The shadow creatures bobbed in place, limbs floating. It was creepy as hell. _We have come millions of light years to meet with you._

“Oh, shit.” Danny sounded panicked. “This is a close encounter, isn’t it? I don’t know what you heard, but you better stay away from me with anything remotely resembling a probe.”

_We are not scientists, we are ambassadors._

“What do you want?” Steve asked. “Why are you holding us here?”

“Pretty sure this goes against Article Three of the Geneva Convention,” Danny added.

“Aliens, Danny,” Steve hissed. “They don’t care about the Geneva Convention.”

_We represent what you would call a federation of star systems in deep space. We have come with peace accords._

“I don’t understand,” Steve said.

_We request that the human race remain confined to this star system and does not venture beyond._

Steve wasn’t sure what to say to that. As Danny frequently reminded him, he was lacking in diplomacy. Although under the circumstances Danny wasn’t doing so well either.

“Let me see if I’m understanding this. You want Steve and I, as unsanctioned representatives of Earth, to agree not to travel in space.”

_That is correct._

“You might want to check your facts, Slenderman. Slender _men_. We’ve only made it as far as our own moon.”

Steve would’ve nodded if he’d been able. The best he could do was to continue flexing his muscles, hoping to work free of the invisible restraints or get the drugs out of his system, whatever it was keeping him from protecting his partner.

_Earth has been studied for several of your millennia. We project your species will be moving beyond the confines of your star system within the next hundred Earth years._

“And that’s a problem why?” 

_Yours is an aggressive, warrior race. You are born and thrive in harsh ecosystems among apex predators. Your species is constantly at war with itself, over such false constructs as religious belief and skin pigmentation. The federation fears that, once loosed upon the entirety of the universe, you will leave a trail of subjugation and destruction behind you._

Steve wanted to leap to the defense of the human race, but the shadow aliens weren’t entirely wrong. It seemed like every step forward was met with two steps backs, and even someone that had proudly served his country for so many years could recognize the inherent problems. Particularly under the current political administration.

He supposed he should be grateful the aliens wanted to negotiate instead of just blowing them up and eliminating the problem.

_That is human thinking_ , the aliens replied to Steve’s unvoiced thought. They could read minds too? Shit. _The elimination of an entire species would never be sanctioned, no matter the level of advancement. Even the smallest single-cell organism has a place in the universe._

“Whoa. Who said anything about eliminating anyone? Steven?”

"We can't agree to -" Steve started to say, but Danny cut him off.

"If we agree to stay in our lane, so to speak, what does that mean? What are the repercussions a hundred years down the line when my kid's kids get the urge to boldly go where no Williams has gone before?"

_This encounter is being archived, and shall be produced at such time as the human race is poised to move beyond this star system. Your species will of course be closely monitored. If it is determined that your species had risen above your current narrow-minded perceptions, a re-evaluation will be conducted._

“Let’s do that, then.”

“Danny, we can’t speak for the entire human race.”

“You’d rather stay here and debate the issue? Because I really, really want to go home.”

_We have your agreement?_

“Yes,” Danny said. “Emphatically yes. I wouldn’t wish us on the rest of the universe either.”

_The federation will be very pleased. We thank you for your cooperation and understanding._

“And now we’re free to go?”

_Of course._

The light flared blindingly white again, leaving shadowy after-images behind Steve’s eyelids.

*o*o*o*

Steve jerked awake, his hands wrapped around the steering wheel of the Camaro; the engine was running. He automatically looked to his right and saw that Danny was staring at his hands, flexing his fingers. Steve experimentally moved his feet and his legs, relieved that everything was responding as it should.

According to the clock on the dashboard, only five minutes had passed.

“Did that just happen or did I have a stroke?” Danny asked. “Please tell me it was a stroke.”

“If it was, we both had one.”

Steve reached over and put his hand on the back of Danny’s neck, pulling him closer so they could rest their foreheads together. “I’m sorry.”

Danny snorted. “Of course you are. Just to be clear, are you taking responsibility for all alien abductions, or just ours?”

“Just ours.”

Danny kissed him before pulling back. “Well, you’re a pretty big trouble magnet. I’m not surprised you attracted the attention of other planets.”

“What do we do now?” Steve asked. He was still trying to understand what had happened, what it meant. Aliens! That was big. National security big. But who could they report it to? Who would even believe them?

“Now? We got home, drink whatever alcoholic beverages we have on hand, and then hopefully pass out and forget tonight ever happened.”

“But –”

“No buts, Steven.” Danny checked his seatbelt, which was still fastened. “The world isn’t ready for this information and, quite frankly, neither am I. We’ll call it a shared hallucination brought on by exhaustion. I’m thinking sick day tomorrow.”

He made a hurry up motion with his hand and Steve put the car in gear. He kept an eye on the skies the whole way home.

Clearly he needed to add ‘alien encounter’ to his emergency preparedness routine.

**Author's Note:**

>  **AN:** This fic was inspired in part by various [Tumblr posts](https://human-aliens-collection.tumblr.com/) regarding alien perceptions of human beings. Some are pretty hilarious, and others more thought provoking. Danny and Steve seemed a good fit for a first encounter. ::grins::


End file.
